TAMPA, Fla. -- In 1944, with many players serving in World War II, the Cardinals and Steelers merged to become one team so bad it earned the derogatory moniker "Car-Pitts."

More than six decades later, with the two franchises again in the same place -- Pittsburgh (14-4) and Arizona (12-7) will square off Sunday in Super Bowl XLIII -- Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley was asked what would happen if the current incarnations of the teams were combined.

Think about it: The Cardinals' trio of wide receivers and suddenly productive running game on offense and the Steelers' pass rush, with Woodley and NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison, plus safety Troy Polamalu on the back end of the defense.

"We'd be an unstoppable team," Woodley said the other day. "That team would be winning the Super Bowl for years."

Of course, any notion the two can combine their differing styles and personnel is pure fantasy. And if recent Super Bowl history is any indication, Sunday night's game at Raymond James Stadium will be played at the grind-it-out pace that has lifted the Steelers to five previous championships rather than one that favors the upstart Cardinals' high-scoring, last-team-with-the-ball-wins style.

That certainly was the case last year, when the Giants stymied the record-setting Patriots offense. And two years before that when the Steelers completely shut down the Seahawks.

While 60 combined points in the Super Bowl was once likely, defense and ball control have dominated of late, and the scores have dropped accordingly -- two of the past three games resulted in a combined 31 points.

"It would seem that way. And I don't think this is going to be a horse race either," said former Bears coach Mike Ditka, who led Chicago to a 46-10 rout of the Patriots in Super Bowl XX in 1986. "I think it's going to be pretty low (score) and it's not going to get out of hand. Nobody's going to score 46."

At the time, that was the record for most points by a team in a Super Bowl. It also was just the start of a decade of offensive fireworks. The Giants (39 points) and Redskins (42) kept the trend going, and the high-water mark came when the 49ers scored 55 points in Super Bowl XXIV. In 1993, the Cowboys scored 52 in a blowout of the Bills and the 49ers matched their team name with 49 points against the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.

But since then, only one team has broken 40 points -- the Buccaneers, who beat the Raiders, 48-21, six years ago. That should be qualified, however, because of the three defensive touchdowns Tampa Bay scored.

"The coaches are recognizing more and more and more that the statistic that counts is takeaways," said former Bills coach Marv Levy, who undoubtedly wanted to see less scoring from the opponent in the four straight Super Bowls his team lost from 1991-94. "So they're being a little bit more aware that you don't just, 'Let it all hang out there, buddy. We're going to shoot from the hip.' And to me, that results in a little bit lower scoring."

Expansion and the salary cap are another factor. With more teams and a cost-conscious roster structure, there's greater competitive balance and parity throughout the league.

Even the teams that have reached the Super Bowl after scoring at will in the regular season have found that there will always be holes in their roster.

"When you looked at (last year's) Patriots, people saw a record-breaking offense. But if you broke them down, they had weaknesses," said Terrell Davis, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Broncos. "They would spread you around and throw the football, but they couldn't run the ball as well and they tended to go to the pass too often. And when the Giants put pressure on Tom Brady, they made him ineffective.

"So if you're not able to adapt, and become more one-dimensional, it's going to be hard to win a game at this point."

Davis, who rushed for 3,758 yards and 36 touchdowns combined in Denver's two Super Bowl seasons, said the Broncos had a more balanced offense with John Elway at quarterback and an excellent offensive line. That was when the league had only 30 teams, so perhaps the expansion to 32 (106 more players to be employed) has slightly affected the ability to build such an offense that can adapt to playoff football.

"You just don't know what game is going to call for what sometimes," Davis said. "If you're a strong passing or strong running team, these coordinators get paid for a reason -- they're going to take that away from you. Now, what do you have to bring to the table?"

The Cardinals appeared to be one-dimensional entering the playoffs. But in the postseason, they're averaging 111 rushing yards per game -- almost 40 yards more than the 73.6 yards per game they averaged in the regular season. So even they seem to understand a slower-paced, lower-scoring game is the way to win in the modern NFL playoffs.

"When we have a good mix of run and pass, we can control the game a little bit," said Arizona running back Tim Hightower. "We don't allow a team to make us one-dimensional, and that's going to be the key for Sunday."

Added fellow Cards running back Edgerrin James: "During the season we were one offense, and then in the postseason it reminds you of the Colts' offense, where it's more balanced. That's the difference."

Even the Steelers are preaching the importance of controlling the clock.

"We have to run the ball more," Pittsburgh center Justin Hartwig said. "We have been able to do it when we've had to do it. There are obviously those times when we haven't gotten it done, but that does have to be our game plan."

Regardless of how much scoring occurs Sunday, there's obviously only one goal for either team.

"As long as we score one more point than they do -- it could be 3-2 or it could be 40-something to 40-something, as long as we get more than them," Steelers tight end Heath Miller said, "that's all that we're looking for."